Carn a Chlamain

Had been planning a jaunt up to this hill with some walkers off WalkHighlands.co.uk. The intention was to then head over and into the Tarf hotel for the evening before potentially another M-point the next day. Having started at 1000 from Old Blair of Tilt, we felt there would be enough time to get to the bothy with daylight. Although we initially made good time up the excellent land rover track to Marble Lodge and beyond, the ascent up on to Carn a Chlamain was particularly tough with a packweight of ca. 25 kilos. Coal and malt - where would we be without it? Higher up I suspect. However, the track up on to Chlamain was good and it was the last 150m up to the summit that was really hard-going. Conditions were getting colder and we didn't hang about at the top. A few photos (Graeme looking like he'd sat on something cold) and off down towards the Tarf hotel, through almost icy snow - the North face had obviously been blasted by winds and it made the snow quite tricky to get down. Once below the snow line, as dusk approached, it was headtorch time and we very thankful that John B had lit a fire at the bothy a couple of hours later. Aching backs, weary legs and thirsty throats. Only a fire and a glass of malt could cure that.